Several options within organization. I would not be susprised if Cooke gets a chance, he has the skill and defenseive play to be fine in that position. Glass, Tangradi or Jeffrey might be a better fit on the 3rd with Sutter and Kennedy.

Several options within organization. I would not be susprised if Cooke gets a chance, he has the skill and defenseive play to be fine in that position. Glass, Tangradi or Jeffrey might be a better fit on the 3rd with Sutter and Kennedy.

Give a shot to Tangradi and Jeffrey to win the 2nd line spot, but if they aren't performing, sliding Cooke up to Malkin's line would be the best option. He has the ability to score as well as create some space like Kunitz.

On defense, I don't think we are going to see Dumoulin, Morrow, etc make the team this year due to the shortened season. Depres will be odd man out simply because of his eligibility. Will come down to Bortuzzo, Strait, and Reese.

It's probably going to be a revolving door on Malkin's line. Bylsma may take the stance of deciding who's on his wing depending on the game situation...which isn't necessarily a bad idea. I'm really pulling for Jeffrey though. I think he got a raw deal last year.

Several options within organization. I would not be susprised if Cooke gets a chance, he has the skill and defenseive play to be fine in that position. Glass, Tangradi or Jeffrey might be a better fit on the 3rd with Sutter and Kennedy.

After hearing some of the things coming from Bylsma, I'm coming around to this idea, at least to start. What do you think about this:

Sutter, Bylsma has already said, will get inserted into the Malkin line at times to take RH faceoffs. We've seen that fish before with Staal playing alongside Malkin. If that happens, DJ can slide up to play center on the 3rd line while Sutter is up with Malkin, and Tangradi can be used on the PP. This lineup also gives you plenty of PK guys with Dupuis, Cooke, Sutter, Glass and DJ. Adams is redundant with that lineup.

That at least gets you out of the gate with veterans in key spots, and if one of DJ or Tangradi earns that LW spot with their play, Cooke can always slide back down. If no one steps up, Bennett is always an option later in the season.

I would switch Glass and Tangradi. I believe Glass played 3rd line minutes in Winipeg last season and I don't think Tangradi has the speed to be effective on a shutdown line. Also, I think he and Vitale were linemates in WBS. Tangradi can get the odd shift on Malkin's line and rotate on the 2nd PP unit with Kunitz, Sutter and Kennedy. I would like to see what Cooke could do on Malkin's line.

DesertPenguin wrote:

DelPen wrote:Bylsma said today he plans on this:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis???-Malkin-Neal

Several options within organization. I would not be susprised if Cooke gets a chance, he has the skill and defenseive play to be fine in that position. Glass, Tangradi or Jeffrey might be a better fit on the 3rd with Sutter and Kennedy.

After hearing some of the things coming from Bylsma, I'm coming around to this idea, at least to start. What do you think about this:

Sutter, Bylsma has already said, will get inserted into the Malkin line at times to take RH faceoffs. We've seen that fish before with Staal playing alongside Malkin. If that happens, DJ can slide up to play center on the 3rd line while Sutter is up with Malkin, and Tangradi can be used on the PP. This lineup also gives you plenty of PK guys with Dupuis, Cooke, Sutter, Glass and DJ. Adams is redundant with that lineup.

That at least gets you out of the gate with veterans in key spots, and if one of DJ or Tangradi earns that LW spot with their play, Cooke can always slide back down. If no one steps up, Bennett is always an option later in the season.

Mozyakin is the KHL al-time leading scorer, if I'm not mistaken, and probably gets a pretty decent salary over there. No idea what kept him from playing in NA, but I doubt he would be interested at this point.

IIRC, Tangradi hasnt scored a goal in the AHL since Dec 7th. Id much rather see them give Cooke, Jeffrey, TK, and Bennett a shot on Malkin's line over ET. He has shown me nothing in his time as a Penguin that makes me think he deserves a shot at a top 6 role.

Glass played 4th line minutes last year. The bump in his TOI is for PK time.

It's weird when Blysma comes out and says Glass might see time there (though "when we're winning" he says) but doesn't mention Tangradi. I suppose he's already starting the coaching / motivational tactics. No one's mentioned it so far, but this is a crucial year for Blysma. His job is on the line with this season, you have to think.

pcm wrote:Glass played 4th line minutes last year. The bump in his TOI is for PK time.

It's weird when Blysma comes out and says Glass might see time there (though "when we're winning" he says) but doesn't mention Tangradi. I suppose he's already starting the coaching / motivational tactics. No one's mentioned it so far, but this is a crucial year for Blysma. His job is on the line with this season, you have to think.

The quotes in the press from team mgt seem to be hinting at something to breakup the logjam of #5 -6 D man we have accumulated during training camp. So are they thinking about somehow acquiring a top 6 forward or trading for some shutdown D pairings.

If I had a vote I would be for the shut down D type and let Crosby and Malkin take care of the top two lines as both have shown they can elevate other players games.

ffemtreed wrote:The quotes in the press from team mgt seem to be hinting at something to breakup the logjam of #5 -6 D man we have accumulated during training camp. So are they thinking about somehow acquiring a top 6 forward or trading for some shutdown D pairings.

If I had a vote I would be for the shut down D type and let Crosby and Malkin take care of the top two lines as both have shown they can elevate other players games.

ffemtreed wrote:The quotes in the press from team mgt seem to be hinting at something to breakup the logjam of #5 -6 D man we have accumulated during training camp. So are they thinking about somehow acquiring a top 6 forward or trading for some shutdown D pairings.

If I had a vote I would be for the shut down D type and let Crosby and Malkin take care of the top two lines as both have shown they can elevate other players games.

Link?

Read about 2/3 way down the article and remember the reporter is talking to Shero to get that article.